The Climbing Daddy and I went to a Mongolian BBQ place the other night. (If you’re not familiar, you go through a buffet-type line full of potential stir-fry ingredients, and they cook it for you at the end.)
The first section on the buffet was labeled “protein.” It was different types of meat: beef, poultry, fish.
Meat isn’t protein.
Meat has protein.
Lots of other things also have protein. Definitely not to the same extent, but everything on that buffet table contained protein. Yes, vegetables have protein. Yes, noodles have protein. Yes, rice has protein.
Protein is a macronutrient, and we need it for our bodies to function properly. We also need carbohydrates and fat. (Not necessarily the kinds or quantities we prefer to eat, but that’s another story.)
Meat is usually muscles. Sometimes organs. Contains protein, water, micronutrients, fat, sometimes a bit of carbs (more in organs than in muscles).
If you’re tracking macros, then you need to know protein contents of foods. (Which still doesn’t relabel meat as protein.)
Just call it what it is.